Shiyakusho (2019)

The amount of amazement I feel toward this show will be hard to put into words for this review, but I'm going to try! The story seems to have flown right off the pages from the manga, but also seems to have gone in its own creative direction!

The story itself seems to follow pretty closely to the original story, but also seems to be created as its own being. The viewers are treated to a very mesmerizing, imaginative, detailed, creative, surreal story! Each actor and actress played their role with such intensity it was almost tangible; the amount of genuine traits from each person that filled the screen was honest and extremely heartfelt.

Each episode had its own story that built such a wonderous bridge to the finale that it seemed almost magical. The attention to detail and respect for not only their work but each person's unique story was something amazing to watch. This show was a complete work of art! The number of feelings each story portrayed shown brilliantly off the screen as if each and every story was real. It can definitely be seen the amount of hard work each actor and actress put into each episode; to balance out creepy with business, not to mention respect and kindness, for each episode.

I do think that the last episode left a few questions unanswered and built up a possibility to a second season or at least a special episode or movie. There are a few people(s) that left the last episode with immense feelings and wonderful stories that I would like to know the continuation of. Though maybe that is the writers, directors, and actors and actresses way of getting us to continue reading the manga!

This show is filled with insanely talented peoples, each story is filled with honesty, respect, and genuine magic for each person the office and employees help. I don't know if this review will help anyone reach out to watch this show, but I hope it does! This is such a heartfelt, bittersweet, gutwrenching show and I really hope more people look into this show, and of course, the manga, too!

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Season Two, Please

Decided to give this a try after it came up as a recommendation for another series, and really happy it did not disappoint.

The atmosphere originally felt like a dreaded Department of Motor Vehicles visit for those who passed on, which made it intriguing right off the bat. One of the best aspects of this series is that it really isn't predictable. Every time I subconsciously tried to guess what was to come, it would throw me a curve ball, then lead me somewhere unexpected. And yet, it all flowed so naturally. There is minimal humor but so much gentle, heart-warming moments.

Although there is a relatively low number of episodes at only around half an hour each, it's quite surprising how many stories they were able to squeeze in despite it being slower paced. Although there is a bit of "gore" due to the nature of plot, it's not done in the way where they're trying to trigger or feed into the audience shock factor. Rather, it's just a matter of fact, as everyone passes away under different circumstances. I love that they didn't try to stuff drama in your face or spell out what you should take away from each story as many series do (where they assume you wouldn't get it, so they just shove it in your face repetitively). The stories are simply laid out for you with subtle reactions from the seemingly stoic team.

The only real negative I have is that there needs to be another season. Partially because there is still plenty of pending, unfinished business and partially because there is so much potential for more.

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